What Now?

MRL Group’s CEO, David Stone comments on the election – one week on.

UK & Europe

Less than a week after what can only be referred to as a catastrophic election, Theresa May is still to announce any deal with the DUP, and we are in even more of a state of flux with little surety about the next six months, let alone the next five years. Will there be another General Election this year? Will there be a new party in power with markedly different economic policies? How will this affect the most complicated negotiations the UK has ever faced? We needed to send a strong A team in to bat against Brussels, not a ramshackle B team with a Captain who’s lost the confidence of the party and will struggle to get anything through parliament.

The knock on effect to organisations could be huge. Markets, and businesses, like stability. And if you’re unsure about the short term future you’re far less likely to invest in creating new jobs, opening new plants, factories, shops etc. Why would you? You are far more likely to sit tight and see where we are in a year’s time.

Fortunately for MRL, we have never been overly reliant on the UK economy. We are a truly international business with offices in France and Germany. And even our UK headquarters in Hove undertakes over 70 per cent of its business internationally, selling services into Europe, Asia and the USA. This provides a strong safety net against local fluctuations, which puts us into a fortunate position, as if any one particular domestic economy should hit a downturn, we can swiftly allocate resource to stronger markets. A secondary benefit has been that the devaluation of sterling gave us a 10 per cent plus boost in sales, literally overnight, as so much of our business is conducted in Euros and Dollars. Sure, holidays have become more expensive, but from a business point of view, we can’t grumble!”